Ice maker and refrigerator having same

ABSTRACT

An ice maker and a refrigerator having same. The ice maker comprises: a cooling part having a heat dissipation device and a metal piece; a liquid container configured to store liquid; a liquid supply part configured to supply liquid to the liquid container; a moving mechanism configured to rotate and move the liquid container; and a control part. The metal piece is mounted, so that a rod-shaped component made of metal extends downward from a base end to the tip, and the rod-shaped component is cooled by means of the heat dissipation device. The ice-making process is repeated multiple times under the control of the control part, and the following steps are carried out in the ice-making process: a liquid supply step, an ice making step, an avoidance step, a deicing step, and a recovering step. The ice maker can make ice within a short period of time.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an ice maker for freezing liquid toproduce ice and a refrigerator having the same.

BACKGROUND

In an ice maker for freezing liquid to produce ice, a cooling protrusionimmersed in liquid inside a tray is cooled using a refrigerant of acooling system of a refrigerator to make ice (for example, refer topatent document 1).

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

Patent document 1: Japanese patent No. 2004-150785.

However, in the ice maker described in patent document 1, liquidremaining in the tray other than the liquid frozen around the coolingprotrusion is discharged. Therefore, since new uncooled liquid issupplied to the tray when a new ice making operation is performed, acooling efficiency is low and an ice making cycle becomes longer.

In view of this, the existing ice maker and refrigerator are necessaryto be improved to solve the above-mentioned problem.

SUMMARY

An object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker and arefrigerator having the same, which have a high cooling efficiency andcan make ice in a short time.

The present invention is directed to an ice maker comprising a coolingpart having a heat dissipation device and a metal piece, a liquidcontainer capable of storing liquid, a liquid supply part which suppliesliquid to the liquid container, a moving mechanism which rotates theliquid container and a control part. The heat dissipation device has aflow passage for a refrigerant to flow through, and the metal piece ismounted such that a rod-shaped component extends downwards from a baseend portion to a tip portion, and the rod-shaped component is cooled bythe heat dissipation device. The control part controls a temperature ofthe rod-shaped component, an operation of the liquid supply part, and anoperation of the moving mechanism.

An ice making process is repeated a plurality of times under control ofthe control part, in which the following steps are performed:

a liquid supply step in which the liquid supply part supplies liquid tothe liquid container which has an opening in an upper portion when beingat an ice making position;

an ice making step which is after the liquid supply step and in which anice making temperature is reached after a predetermined time, and thefollowing state is achieved: a predetermined range from the tip portionof the rod-shaped component at the ice making temperature is immersed inliquid contained in the liquid container;

an escape step which is after the ice making step and in which whileremaining liquid is still stored in the liquid container, the movingmechanism rotates the liquid container from the ice making position toan escape position where the liquid container is not located below therod-shaped component;

an ice release step which is after the escape step and in which therod-shaped component is changed to an ice release temperature, such thatice generated around the rod-shaped component falls from the rod-shapedcomponent; and

a recovery step which is after the ice release step and in which themoving mechanism rotates the liquid container from the escape positionto the ice making position when the remaining liquid is still stored inthe liquid container.

As such, since liquid remaining in a liquid container in an ice makingstep of a previous ice making process can be used in the ice making stepof a next ice making process, the ice can be made using thelow-temperature liquid cooled in the previous ice making process. Thus,the ice maker which has the high cooling efficiency and can make the icein a short time can be provided.

Further, the ice maker further comprises a liquid removing part forremoving the liquid remaining in the liquid container; under the controlof the control part, after the ice making step, the escape step isperformed after the liquid removing step is performed; in the liquidremoving step, the liquid removing part removes a part of the liquidremaining in the liquid container, such that an amount of the liquidremaining in the liquid container is reduced to be less than thepredetermined amount.

As such, since an amount of the liquid remaining in the liquid containercan be reduced to be less than a predetermined amount by a liquidremoving part, the liquid container can be reliably rotated to an escapeposition while the remaining liquid is still stored in the liquidcontainer.

Further, after the plurality of ice making processes are repeated, thefollowing steps are performed under the control of the control part:

a remaining liquid freezing step in which the remaining liquid remainingin the liquid container at the ice making position or the escapeposition is placed in a freezing environment and frozen; and

a remaining liquid ice release step which is after the remaining liquidfreezing step and in which the moving mechanism further rotates theliquid container in a state where a part of the liquid container havingelasticity is restrained, so as to twist the liquid container to dropthe frozen remaining liquid from the liquid container.

As such, the remaining liquid does not flow out of the liquid containerafter a series of ice making processes is completed. Since a freezingoperation can be performed and the ice can be released from the liquidcontainer, an efficient ice making cycle can be realized.

Further, the ice maker further comprises a semiconductor chilling plateprovided between the heat dissipation device and the metal piece, oneside surface of the semiconductor chilling plate is in contact with asurface of the heat dissipation device, and the other side surfacethereof is in contact with a surface of the metal piece opposite to thesurface on which the rod-shaped component is mounted;

in the ice making step, the semiconductor chilling plate is suppliedwith power, such that the side of the semiconductor chilling plate incontact with the heat dissipation device becomes a heat release side,and the side in contact with the metal piece becomes a heat absorptionside, so as to further cool the rod-shaped component at the ice makingtemperature; and

in the ice release step, the semiconductor chilling plate is suppliedwith power, such that the side of the semiconductor chilling plate incontact with the heat dissipation device becomes the heat absorptionside, and the side in contact with the metal piece becomes the heatrelease side, so as to change the rod-shaped component to the icerelease temperature.

As such, since heat is absorbed from the side of a metal piece having arod-shaped component by a semiconductor chilling plate and radiated tothe heat dissipation device side, a cooling operation is performed bythe semiconductor chilling plate in addition to a heat dissipationdevice having a flow passage for a refrigerant to flow, and atemperature of the rod-shaped component of the metal piece can be lowerthan a temperature in a case of using only the refrigerant. Thus, theice can be generated around the rod-shaped component of the metal piecein a short time. Further, by reversing a direction of a current appliedto the semiconductor chilling plate, the temperature of the rod-shapedcomponent can be rapidly increased to realize ice release. Thus, a shortice making cycle can be realized reliably.

Further, in the ice release step, with an end region of the liquidcontainer as a rotation center, the liquid container is rotated by 70 to120 degrees from the ice making position to the escape position; theliquid container is provided with a rib, the rib is connected with aside wall forming the liquid container and partially covers the openingin the upper portion, and in the escape position, the predeterminedamount of liquid is caught in the liquid container by the rib.

As such, by providing a rib partially covering an opening in an upperportion at the liquid container, a simple structure can be realized anda predetermined amount of liquid can be reliably stored in the liquidcontainer in the escape position.

The present invention is directed to a refrigerator comprising the icemaker, a refrigerant branched from a cooling system for cooling aninterior of the refrigerator being supplied to the heat dissipationdevice of the ice maker.

As such, the refrigerator has a high cooling efficiency and can make theice in a short time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an ice maker according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a view of the ice maker shown in FIG. 1A from anotherperspective.

FIG. 2 is a side view as viewed along arrow A-A in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along arrow B-B in FIG. 1A, and is aside sectional view of the ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a same sectional view as FIG. 3 , and is a side sectional viewof a variant of the ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view of a planar shape of a heat dissipation device and acooling system connected to the heat dissipation device in the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control structure of the ice makeraccording to the present invention.

FIG. 7A is a side sectional view of a liquid supply step implemented inthe ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 7B is a side sectional view of an ice release step implemented inthe ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 7C is a side sectional view of a liquid removing step implementedin the ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 7D is a side sectional view of an escaping step implemented in theice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 7E is a side sectional view of the ice release step implemented inthe ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 7F is a side sectional view of a recovery step implemented in theice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 7G is a side sectional view of a liquid supply step in a next icemaking process performed in the ice maker according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 8A is a side sectional view of a remaining liquid freezing stepimplemented in the ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 8B is a side sectional view when a liquid container is twisted in aremaining liquid ice release step implemented in the ice maker accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 8C is a side sectional view when frozen remaining liquid falls fromthe liquid container in the remaining liquid ice release stepimplemented in the ice maker according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator according to thepresent invention.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

2: ice maker

10: heat dissipation device

12: flow passage

14A, 14B: connecting pipe

20: metal piece

22: base

24: rod-shaped component

24A: base end portion

24B: tip portion

30: semiconductor chilling plate

40: cooling part

50: liquid container

50A: bottom wall

50B: side wall

50C: rib

52: shaft portion

54: protrusion

56: ice storage container

60: moving mechanism

62: bearing portion

70: liquid supply/removing pipe

72: liquid supply part

72A: tip opening

74: liquid removing part

80: cooling system

82: compressor

84: condenser

86: dryer

90: control part

100: refrigerator

102A: freezing chamber

102B: refrigerating chamber

104A, B: inlet side flow passage

106: partition

106A: blow-out port

110: compressor

120: condenser

130: dryer

140: evaporator

150: cooling system

160: three-way valve

170: fan

180: damper

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of thepresent invention more apparent, the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specificembodiments.

Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention will be describedin detail based on the accompanying drawings. In addition, a devicedescribed below serves as a device for embodying the technical idea ofthe present invention, and the present invention is not limited to thefollowing content unless otherwise specified. In order to clarify thedescription, the sizes, positional relationships, or the like, ofelements in each drawing can be exaggeratedly shown. In thespecification and the accompanying drawings, the up-down direction isshown assuming a refrigerator provided on the floor.

(One Embodiment of Ice Maker)

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an ice maker 2 according to the presentinvention. FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the ice maker 2 according tothe present invention from another perspective. FIG. 2 is a side view asviewed along arrow A-A in FIG. 1A. FIG. 3 is a sectional view takenalong arrow B-B in FIG. 1A, and is a side sectional view showing the icemaker according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a same sectionalview as FIG. 3 , and is a side sectional view showing a variant of theice maker according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a view of aplanar shape of a heat dissipation device and a cooling system connectedto the heat dissipation device in the present invention. FIG. 6 is ablock diagram of a control structure of the ice maker according to thepresent invention. First, an overview of the ice maker 2 according tothe present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B,2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 .

The ice maker 2 includes: a cooling part 40 which can freeze liquid togenerate ice, a liquid container 50 which can store liquid, a movingmechanism 60 which rotates and moves the liquid container 50, a liquidsupply part 72 which supplies liquid to the liquid container 50, and aliquid removing part 74 which removes the liquid in the liquid container50. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a liquid supply/removing pipe 70 which actuallysupplies the liquid to the liquid container 50 and removes the liquidfrom the liquid container 50. The liquid supply/removing pipe 70 isconfigured as a member which achieves the functions of both the liquidsupply part 72 and the liquid removing part 74. In the presentembodiment, the ice maker 2 is configured as a separate ice maker, andincludes a cooling system 80 for supplying a refrigerant to the coolingpart 40. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and aswill be described later, the ice maker can also be incorporated into arefrigerator and supplied with the refrigerant from a cooling system ofthe refrigerator. The ice maker 2 further includes a control part 90 forcontrolling constituent devices of the ice maker 2. Any liquid, such asdrinking water, can be used as the liquid to be frozen to produce ice.

<Cooling Part>

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and the variant shown inFIG. 4 , constituent components of the cooling part 40 can be different.

[One Embodiment]

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the cooling part 40 includes a heatdissipation device 10 and a metal piece 20 from top to bottom, and alower surface of the heat dissipation device 10 is joined to an uppersurface of the metal piece 20. A plurality of rod-shaped components 24are mounted to a lower side surface of a plate-like base 22 of the metalpiece 20.

[Variant]

In the variant shown in FIG. 4 , the cooling part 40 includes, insequence from top to bottom, a heat dissipation device 10, asemiconductor chilling plate 30 and a metal piece 20. A plurality ofrod-shaped components 24 are mounted to a lower side surface of aplate-like base 22 of the metal piece 20. The semiconductor chillingplate 30 is provided between the heat dissipation device 10 and themetal piece 20, such that one side surface (upper surface) thereof is incontact with a surface (lower surface) of the heat dissipation device 10and the other side surface (lower surface) thereof is in contact with asurface (upper surface) of the metal piece 20 opposite to the surface onwhich the rod-shaped component 24 is mounted.

[Heat Dissipation Device]

The heat dissipation device 10 has a flat plate shape and is made ofmetal having a high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum and copper.The heat dissipation device 10 is provided therein with a flow passage12 in which a liquid or mist refrigerant flows. In FIG. 5 , the flow ofthe refrigerant is shown by a dotted arrow. In FIG. 5 , thesubstantially M-shaped flow passage 12 having three folded portions isshown in a plan view, but the present invention is not limited thereto.Depending on a size of the heat dissipation device 10, a flow passagehaving one folded portion or a flow passage having more than threefolded portions can also be used. Connecting pipes 14A, 14B are mountedto both ends of the flow passage 12. The heat dissipation device 10 canhave the following exemplary structure: a groove-shaped flow passage isformed in the metal piece, or a cooling pipe as a flow passage is joinedto a metal sheet. In the latter case, the cooling pipe can be joined toone side of the metal sheet, or the metal sheet can be joined to cover aperiphery of the cooling pipe. The cooling pipe and the metal sheet arepreferably in surface contact in view of heat conduction. For example,the metal sheet can have a thickness of about 1 to 20 mm. The heatdissipation device 10 has a same planar size as the metal piece 20described later.

In the cooling system 80 in the present embodiment, high-pressurerefrigerant gas compressed by a compressor 82 releases heat and turnsback into liquid in a condenser 84, is decompressed to lower a boilingpoint while passing through a capillary tube, and enters the flowpassage 12 of the heat dissipation device 10 from the connecting pipe14A via a dryer 86. While passing through the flow passage 12, theliquid or mist refrigerant absorbs heat from the surroundings andevaporates. The vaporized refrigerant returns from the connecting pipe14B to the compressor 82 via a pipeline of the cooling system 80, andthe re-compressed cycle is repeated. With such a cooling cycle, the heatdissipation device 10 can be cooled to a temperature below a freezingpoint.

[Metal Piece]

The metal piece 20 is formed of metal having a high thermalconductivity, such as aluminum and copper. The metal piece 20 includesthe flat-plate-shaped base 22 and the plurality of rod-shaped components24 mounted to the base 22. The rod-shaped component 24 is mounted on thelower surface of the base 22, so as to extend downwards from a base endportion 24A to a tip portion 24B.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show a case where six rod-shaped components 24 aremounted to the base 22. The rod-shaped component 24 can have a circularcross-section shape with an outer diameter of about 5 to 20 mm and alength of about 30 to 80 mm. The planar shape of the base 22 isdetermined by a size of the rod-shaped component 24 and a number of therod-shaped component to be mounted. The heat dissipation device 10 alsohas a substantially same planar shape as the base 22 of the metal piece20. The planar sizes of the heat dissipation device 10 and the base 22of the metal piece 20 can include longitudinal and transverse sizes ofabout 40 to 400 mm. The base 22 can have a thickness of about 2 to 10mm.

In the present embodiment, a male thread is provided on the base endportion 24A side of the rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20,so as to be connected with a female thread formed in a hole portionprovided in the base 22. With such a structure, the rod-shaped component24 can be easily replaced and mounted. Although the rod-shaped component24 in the present embodiment has the circular cross-section shape, thepresent invention is not limited thereto, and the rod-shaped componentcan be substituted by a rod-shaped component having a polygonal shape, astar shape, a heart shape, or any cross-section shape. In addition, therod-shaped component 24 can also be joined to the base 22 by a weldingor soldering operation. A solid rod-shaped component 24 is preferred inview of a cooling effect of the rod-shaped component 24, but a hollowrod-shaped component 24 can also be employed in view of workability, orthe like.

[Semiconductor Chilling Plate]

The semiconductor chilling plate 30 is configured as an elementutilizing the peltier effect, and when two different kinds of metal orsemiconductors are joined and a current flows, absorption/release ofheat occurs at the junction. When the current flows in a predetermineddirection with respect to the semiconductor chilling plate 30, one sidesurface becomes a heat absorption side, and the other side surfacebecomes a heat release side. Moreover, when the current flows in areverse direction with respect to the semiconductor chilling plate 30,the surface becoming the heat absorption side and the surface becomingthe heat release side are reversed. In the present embodiment, any knownsemiconductor chilling plate can be used. The semiconductor chillingplate 30 in the present embodiment has width and depth sizes of about 20to 100 mm and a thickness of about 2 to 20 mm. In addition, a pluralityof semiconductor chilling plates 30 can be provided in accordance withthe size of the heat dissipation device 1 and the metal piece 20.

[Fixing Structure of Cooling Part]

In a case where the semiconductor chilling plate 30 is not provided,fixation can be realized using a fastening member, such as a bolt and anut, such that the lower surface of the heat dissipation device 10 isclosely attached to the upper surface of the metal piece 20. On theother hand, in a case where the semiconductor chilling plate 30 isprovided, the following fixing structure is provided: two sides of thesemiconductor chilling plate 30 are closely attached to the lowersurface of the heat dissipation device 10 and the upper surface of themetal piece 20. For example, the heat dissipation device 10 and themetal piece 20 which are provided to sandwich the semiconductor chillingplate 30 can be fixed to each other with a fastening member, such as abolt and a nut. A bolt shaft is subjected to tensile stress by afastening operation, such that the lower surface of the heat dissipationdevice 10 can be closely attached to an upper surface of thesemiconductor chilling plate 30, and a lower surface of thesemiconductor chilling plate 30 can be closely attached to the uppersurface of the metal piece 20. However, the present invention is notlimited to this fixing method, and the fixing structure of the coolingpart 40 can be formed by any other fixing means.

<Liquid Container>

The liquid container 50 is made of a resin material having elasticity.The liquid container 50 includes a liquid storage region R enclosed by abottom wall 50A and a side wall 50B erected from the bottom wall 50A. Anopening is formed in an upper portion of the liquid storage region R.The rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 is inserted into theliquid storage region R through the opening, such that a predeterminedrange from the tip portion 24B of the rod-shaped component 24 isprovided in the liquid storage region R.

In the ice maker 2 according to the present embodiment, the rod-shapedcomponent 24 is lowered to a temperature below the freezing point by thecooling effect of the heat dissipation device 10 cooled by therefrigerant. Since the predetermined range from the tip portion 24B ofthe rod-shaped component 24 is provided within the liquid storage regionR of the liquid container 50, ice can be generated around a portion ofthe rod-shaped component 24 immersed in the liquid. The predeterminedrange from the tip portion 24B of the rod-shaped component 24 can beabout 8 mm to 40 mm. Further, in the case of including the semiconductorchilling plate 30, since the cooling operation is performed by thesemiconductor chilling plate 30 in addition to the heat dissipationdevice 10, the cooling operation can be performed at a lowertemperature, and the ice can be generated around the rod-shapedcomponent 24 of the metal piece 20 in a short time.

In the present embodiment, six rod-shaped components 24 are arrangedsubstantially linearly, and the liquid storage region R is alsoelongated along a substantially straight line. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4which show a cross section substantially orthogonal to the extendingdirection of the liquid storage region R, the bottom wall 50A forming abottom surface of the liquid storage region R and the side wall 50Bforming a side surface are connected via a smooth curve portion, and theopening is formed in the upper portion. Further, the liquid container 50is provided with a rib 50C which is connected with the side wall 50Bforming the liquid container 50 and partially covers the opening in theupper portion.

In the side view shown in FIG. 2 , a shaft portion 52 extending in theextending direction of the liquid storage region R is provided in aregion on the side surface of the liquid storage region R. As shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B, one end portion of the shaft portion 52 of the liquidcontainer 50 is coupled with a driving shaft of the moving mechanism 60described later. On the other hand, the other end portion of the shaftportion 52 of the liquid container 50 is supported, in a free rotationmanner, at a bearing portion 62 provided on a frame portion of the icemaker 2. With this structure, the liquid container 50 can be rotatedabout a center point C of the shaft portion 52. That is, the liquidcontainer 50 can be rotated around the center point C located in an endregion of the liquid container 50 by a driving force of the movingmechanism 60. Further, the liquid container 50 is provided with aprotrusion 54. As will be described later, in a state where theprotrusion 54 abuts against the frame portion of the ice maker 2, theliquid container 50 is rotated by the moving mechanism 60, the liquidcontainer 50 having elasticity can be twisted, and the ice in the liquidcontainer 50 can be dropped.

<Moving Mechanism>

The moving mechanism 60 is set to rotate the liquid container 50. When adriving motor of the moving mechanism 60 is started and the drivingshaft is rotated, the liquid container 50 is rotated about the centerpoint C. The moving mechanism 60 can rotate the liquid container 50clockwise/counterclockwise by the driving force of the driving motor,for example (refer to the double-headed arrow in FIG. 1B).

The position of the liquid container 50 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 isreferred to as an ice making position. In a case where the liquidcontainer 50 is at the ice making position, the opening of the liquidcontainer 50 faces upwards, such that the liquid can be stored in theliquid storage region R, and the predetermined range of the rod-shapedcomponent 24 of the metal piece 20 from the tip portion 24B is providedin the liquid storage region R through the opening. The moving mechanism60 rotates the liquid container 50 from the ice making position aroundthe center point C (as shown in FIG. 2 ) until the liquid container 50is not located below the rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20,and the position of the liquid container 50 at this point is referred toas an escape position. A rotation angle of the liquid container 50between the ice making position and the escape position differsdepending mainly on a positional relationship between the rod-shapedcomponent 24 of the metal piece 20 and the liquid container 50, and aposition of the center point C as a rotation center, but preferablyranges from 70 degrees to 120 degrees.

The moving mechanism 60 can also rotate the liquid container 50 from theice making position around the center point C over the escape positionto a position where the opening of the liquid container 50 facesdownwards (as described later, and a shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C). In thiscase, the protrusion 54 provided outside the liquid container 50 abutsagainst the frame portion of the ice maker 2, and in this state, theliquid container 50 is further rotated by the moving mechanism 60, suchthat the liquid container 50 having the elasticity is twisted, and theice frozen near the bottom wall 50A of the liquid container 50 can bereleased.

<Liquid Supply Part/Liquid Removing Part>

In the present embodiment, the ice maker further includes a mechanism ofthe liquid supply part 72 which supplies the liquid into the liquidcontainer 50 and the liquid removing part 74 which discharges the liquidfrom the liquid container 50. The liquid supply part 72 and the liquidremoving part 74 mainly include a storage container for storing liquid,a liquid supply/removing pump capable of reversing a suction directionand a discharge direction, a liquid supply/removing pipe 70, and aliquid supply/removing flow passage connecting these parts. The liquidsupply part 72 and the liquid removing part 74 reduce a number of parts,and in particular, only the liquid supply/removing pipe 70 is insertedinto the liquid container 50, thus saving a space around the liquidcontainer 50.

When the liquid supply/removing pump is driven to the liquid supply sideunder control of the control part 90, the liquid in the storagecontainer flows from a liquid supply/discharge pump to the liquidsupply/removing pipe 70 through the liquid supply/removing flow passage,and flows into the liquid container 50 from a tip opening 70A of theliquid supply/removing pipe 70. When the liquid supply/removing pump isdriven to the liquid removing side under the control of the control part90, the liquid in the liquid container 50 is sucked from the tip opening70A of the liquid supply/removing pipe 70, flows through the liquidsupply/discharge pump from the liquid supply/removing pipe 70 via theliquid supply/removing flow passage, and flows into the storagecontainer. At this point, preferably, the returned liquid passes througha filter before flowing into the storage container. An increase in aconcentration of soluble or insoluble substances in the liquid in thestorage container can be suppressed by a filtering function of thefilter, thereby producing high-quality ice. However, the liquid supplypart 72 and the liquid removing part 74 only serve as one example, andeach of the liquid supply part 72 and the liquid removing part 74 canalso include a liquid supply pump, a liquid removing pump, a liquidsupply pipe and a liquid removing pipe.

In either case, the liquid container 50 can store liquid in the icemaking position and have the opening in the upper portion. Thus, a tipregion of the liquid supply/removing pipe 70 (or a liquid supply pipeand a liquid removing pipe) is simply inserted into the liquid container50 from the opening in the upper portion, thus easily preventinginterference between members when the liquid container 50 rotates.However, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the tip opening 70A of the liquidsupply/removing pipe 70 is provided at a height H from the bottomsurface of the liquid container 50, and therefore, even when the liquidsupply/removing pump is driven to the liquid removing side, the liquidin the region with the height H on the bottom surface remains. All theliquid in the liquid container 50 can be assumed to be discharged in acase where a liquid supply/removing port is provided in the bottom ofthe liquid container 50. However, when the liquid container 50 isrotated, interference with other members increases, and a processingoperation of a liquid supply/removing hose becomes complicated.

Next, the control structure of the ice maker 2 including the controlpart 90 will be described with reference to FIG. 6 . Here, a controlstructure including the semiconductor chilling plate 30 will bedescribed as an example. By controlling the driving action of the motorof the moving mechanism 60 by the control part 90, the liquid container50 can be rotated between the ice making position and the escapeposition, and meanwhile, the liquid container 50 can be twisted torelease the ice.

The liquid can be supplied to the liquid container 50 by the controlpart 90 controlling and driving the liquid supply/removing pump as theliquid supply part 72 to the liquid supply side. Similarly, the liquidin the liquid container 50 can be returned to the storage container bythe control part 90 controlling and driving the liquid supply/removingpump as the liquid removing part 74 to the liquid removing side.Further, in the case of including the semiconductor chilling plate 30, atemperature difference can be formed between the two surfaces by thecontrol part 90 controlling a direction and a magnitude of powersupplied to the semiconductor chilling plate 30, such that one sidesurface becomes the heat absorption side and the other side surfacebecomes the heat release side.

As described above, the ice maker 2 according to the present embodimentincludes: the cooling part 40 having the heat dissipation device 10having the flow passage 12 for the refrigerant to flow through, and themetal piece 20 mounted such that the rod-shaped component 24 extendsdownwards from the base end portion 24A to the tip portion 24B; theliquid container 50 capable of storing the liquid; the liquid supplypart 72 which supplies the liquid to the liquid container 50 at the icemaking position; the moving mechanism 60 which rotates the liquidcontainer 50 between the ice making position and the escape position;and the control part 90, such that the predetermined range from the tipportion 24B of the rod-shaped component 24 is provided in the liquidstorage region of the liquid container 50.

Under the control of the control part 90, the liquid supply part 72supplies the liquid into the liquid storage region of the liquidcontainer 50 at the ice making position. For example, the control part90 controls a switching valve in the cooling system 80, such that therefrigerant changed to a low temperature in the cooling system 80 flowsinto the heat dissipation device 10. The rod-shaped component 24 of themetal piece 20 can reach an ice making temperature below the freezingpoint by a cooling operation by the heat dissipation device 10 in whichthe low-temperature refrigerant flows. Thus, the ice can be generatedaround the region of rod-shaped component 24 immersed in the liquid.

Further, in the case of including the semiconductor chilling plate 30,since the cooling operation can be performed by the semiconductorchilling plate 30 provided between the heat dissipation device 10 andthe metal piece 20 in addition to the heat dissipation device 10 inwhich the low-temperature refrigerant flows, the cooling operation canbe performed at a lower temperature than a structure in which therod-shaped component 24 is cooled only by the refrigerant, and the icecan be generated around the rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece20 in a short time.

The control part 90 controls the moving mechanism 60, such that theliquid container 50 is rotated from the ice making position to theescape position where the liquid container 50 is not located below therod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20. Then, the rod-shapedcomponent 24 is changed to the ice release temperature higher than thefreezing point by the control part 90, and then, the generated ice fallsfrom the rod-shaped component 24. The ice falls from the rod-shapedcomponent 24 and is then stored in the ice storage container 56 providedbelow.

In the case where the semiconductor chilling plate 30 is not included,as a means for changing the rod-shaped component 24 to the ice releasetemperature, the following manner is considered: the switching valve inthe cooling system 80 is switched by the control part 90, such that thehigh-temperature refrigerant just flowing out of the compressor 82 flowsto the heat dissipation device 10 in place of the refrigerant which ischanged to the low temperature through the condenser 84 and thecapillary tube, thus raising the temperature of the heat dissipationdevice 10, and also increasing the temperature of the rod-shapedcomponent 24 of the metal piece 20 by heat conduction to the ice releasetemperature higher than the freezing point.

In the case of including the semiconductor chilling plate 30, thesemiconductor chilling plate 30 is powered on by the control part 90,such that the side in contact with the surface of the heat dissipationdevice 10 becomes the heat absorption side and the side in contact withthe surface of the metal piece 20 becomes the heat release side, thusrapidly raising the temperature of the rod-shaped component 24 of themetal piece 20 to the ice release temperature. In this case, even in astate where the refrigerant changed to the low temperature in thecooling system 80 flows in the heat dissipation device 10, thetemperature of the rod-shaped component 24 can be changed to the icerelease temperature by the semiconductor chilling plate 30.

(Control Processing Operation)

Next, a control processing operation of the control part 90 will bedescribed. FIGS. 7A to 7G are side sectional views of steps implementedby the ice maker according to the present invention, FIG. 7A shows aliquid supply step, FIG. 7B shows an ice making step, FIG. 7C shows aliquid removing step, FIG. 7D shows an escape step, FIG. 7E shows an icerelease step, FIG. 7F shows a recovery step, and FIG. 7G shows a liquidsupply step in the next cooling process.

(Ice Making Process)

For example, a description is given from an initial state in which theliquid container 50 is at the ice making position and no liquid isstored in the liquid container 50. Here, a detailed description will begiven of the ice making process repeated a plurality of times, in whichthe following steps are performed: the liquid supply step of supplyingliquid to the liquid container 50, the ice making step of generating icearound the rod-shaped component 24, the escape step of rotating theliquid container 50 from the ice making position to the escape position,the ice release step of dropping the generated ice from the rod-shapedcomponent 24, and the recovery step of rotating the liquid container 50from the escape position to the ice making position.

<Liquid Supply Step (Refer to FIG. 7A)>

The liquid supply part 72 supplies liquid to the opening in the upperportion of the liquid container 50 located at the ice making position.Specifically, under the control of the control part 90, the drivingmotor of the liquid supply/removing pump of the liquid supply part 72 isdriven in the liquid supply direction. Thus, the liquid supply/removingpump draws up the liquid in the storage container, and supplies theliquid to the liquid container 50 through the liquid supply/removingflow passage and the liquid supply/removing pipe 70. When the liquidlevel in the liquid container 50 is determined to reach a specifiedlevel based on a signal from a liquid level sensor or timing of a timer,the control part 90 stops the operation of the liquid supply/removingpump. In the liquid supply step, the following state is achieved: thepredetermined range L from the tip portion 24B of the rod-shapedcomponent 24 of the metal piece 20 is immersed in the liquid container50.

<Ice Making Step (Refer to FIG. 7B)>

When the ice making temperature is reached after a predetermined timeelapses after the liquid supply step, the following ice making step isperformed: the predetermined range L from the tip portion 24B of therod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 at the ice makingtemperature is immersed in the liquid contained in the liquid container50.

Specifically, under the control of the control part 90, the refrigerantchanged to the low temperature in the cooling system 80 flows to theheat dissipation device 10. The heat dissipation device 10 which ischanged to a temperature below the freezing point by evaporation of therefrigerant flowing in the internal flow passage 12 cools down therod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 to the ice makingtemperature below the freezing point.

On the other hand, in the case where the semiconductor chilling plate 30is included, the semiconductor chilling plate 30 is supplied with powerunder the control of the control part 90, such that the side of thesemiconductor chilling plate 30 in contact with the heat dissipationdevice 10 becomes the heat release side, and the side in contact withthe metal piece 20 becomes the heat absorption side, so as to furthercool the rod-shaped component at the ice making temperature. That is,since heat is absorbed from the side of the metal piece 20 having therod-shaped component 24 by the semiconductor chilling plate 30 andradiated to the heat dissipation device 10 side, the cooling operationis performed by the semiconductor chilling plate 30 in addition to theheat dissipation device having the flow passage for the low-temperaturerefrigerant to flow, and the temperature of the rod-shaped component 24of the metal piece 20 can be lower than the temperature in the case ofusing only the refrigerant. Thus, the ice can be generated around therod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 in a short time.

Then, when the predetermined time T is determined to elapse based on thetiming of the timer, the ice making step is ended. As shown in FIG. 7B,the ice G can be generated to cover the predetermined range L from thetip portion of the rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20. Thepredetermined time T can be set to different values corresponding to thecase where the semiconductor chilling plate 30 is included and the casewhere the semiconductor chilling plate 30 is not included. In the casewhere the semiconductor chilling plate 30 is included, the ice makingstep is ended, and the control part 90 stops the power supply to thesemiconductor chilling plate 30.

<Liquid Removing Step (Refer to FIG. 7C)>

After the ice making step, the liquid removing part 74 removes theliquid remaining in the liquid container 50 under the control of thecontrol part 90. Specifically, the liquid supply/removing pump is drivenin the liquid removing direction under the control of the control part90. Thus, the liquid supply/removing pump draws out the liquid in theliquid container 50 through the liquid supply/removing pipe 70 and theliquid supply/removing flow passage, and returns the liquid to thestorage container. At this point, the liquid returned to the storagecontainer flows into the storage container after being filtered by thefilter provided at an inlet of a return path of the storage container.

As described above, the tip opening 70A of the liquid supply/removingpipe 70 is provided at the height H from the bottom surface of theliquid container 50, and therefore, the liquid at least in the regionwith the height H on the bottom surface remains. In the escape stepdescribed later, the liquid container 50 is rotated to the escapeposition, and the liquid container 50 has a structure capable ofcontaining a predetermined amount of liquid in the escape position.Thus, the amount of the liquid remaining in the region with the height Hon the bottom surface in the liquid container 50 is lower than apredetermined amount which can be stored in the liquid container 50 atthe escape position even after the liquid removing step. When thepredetermined amount of the liquid which can be stored in the liquidcontainer 50 at the escape position is greater than the amount of theliquid in the region with the height H on the bottom surface of theliquid container 50, the operation of the liquid supply/removing pumpcan be stopped at a point in time when the remaining amount of theliquid in the liquid container 50 becomes less than the predeterminedamount.

As described above, in the liquid removing step, after the ice makingstep, the liquid removing part 74 removes a part of the liquid remainingin the liquid container 50, such that the amount of the liquid remainingin the liquid container 50 is reduced to be less than the predeterminedamount. In this way, since the amount of the liquid remaining in theliquid container 50 can be reduced to be less than the predeterminedamount by the liquid removing part 74, the liquid container 50 can bereliably rotated while the remaining liquid is still stored in theliquid container 50 in the escape step and the recovery step describedlater. When the predetermined amount of the liquid which can be storedin the liquid container 50 at the escape position is greater than thetotal amount of the liquid remaining in the liquid container 50 at theend of the ice making step, the liquid removing step can not beperformed.

<Escape Step (Refer to FIG. 7D)>

After the ice making step, under the control of the control part 90,when the remaining liquid is still stored in the liquid container 50,the moving mechanism 60 rotates the liquid container 50 from the icemaking position to the escape position where the liquid container 50 isnot located below the rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20. Theliquid container 50 is rotated by 70 to 120 degrees from the ice makingposition to the escape position by driving the driving motor of themoving mechanism 60. With such a rotation angle, even when the generatedice falls from the rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 in theice release step described later, there is no risk of interference withthe liquid container 50.

The liquid container 50 is provided with the rib 50C, and the rib 50C isconnected with the side wall 50B forming the liquid container 50 andpartially covers the opening in the upper portion, such that thepredetermined amount of liquid is caught in the liquid container 50 bythe rib 50C in the escape position. By providing such a structure in theliquid container 50, there is no risk that the liquid flows out of theliquid container 50 during the rotation of the liquid container 50 inthe escape step, the state in the escape position in the ice removingstep, and the rotation of the liquid container 50 in the recovery step,thus preventing the liquid from splashing around and preventing freezeand adherence of the flow-out liquid. As such, by providing the rib 50Cpartially covering the opening in the upper portion of the liquidcontainer 50, a simple structure can be realized and the predeterminedamount of liquid can be reliably stored in the liquid container 50 inthe escape position.

<Ice Release Step (Refer to FIG. 7E)>

After the escape step, under the control of the control part 90, therod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 is changed to the icerelease temperature, and the ice G generated around the rod-shapedcomponent falls from the rod-shaped component 24. The falling ice G isstored in the ice storage container 56 provided below. The rod-shapedcomponent 24 of the metal piece 20 is changed to the ice releasetemperature, and in the case where the semiconductor chilling plate 30is not included, in place of the low-temperature refrigerant, thehigh-temperature refrigerant just flowing out of the compressor 82 canflow to the heat dissipation device 10, thus raising the temperature ofthe heat dissipation device 10, and also increasing the temperature ofthe rod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 by heat conduction tothe ice release temperature higher than the freezing point.

On the other hand, in the case of including the semiconductor chillingplate 30, the semiconductor chilling plate 30 is powered on, such thatthe side in contact with the surface of the heat dissipation device 10becomes the heat absorption side and the side in contact with thesurface of the metal piece 20 becomes the heat release side, thusrapidly raising the temperature of the rod-shaped component 24 of themetal piece 20 to the ice release temperature. Thus, a short ice makingcycle can be realized reliably. In this case, even in a state where therefrigerant changed to the low temperature in the cooling system 80still flows in the heat dissipation device 10, the temperature of therod-shaped component 24 can be changed to the ice release temperature bythe semiconductor chilling plate 30.

<Recovery Step (Refer to FIG. 7F)>

After the ice release step, under the control of the control part 90,when the remaining liquid is still stored in the liquid container 50,the moving mechanism 60 rotates the liquid container 50 from the escapeposition to the ice making position. The driving motor of the movingmechanism 60 is driven on an opposite side to the escape step, such thatthe liquid container 50 is rotated by 70 to 120 degrees in the oppositedirection and returned to the original ice making position. Thus, thefirst ice making process is finished, and the liquid supply step of thesecond ice making process is performed.

<Ice Making Process after Second Ice Making Process (Refer to FIG. 7G)>

In the liquid supply step of the second ice making process, as describedabove, under the control of the control part 90, the driving motor ofthe liquid supply/removing pump of the liquid supply part 72 is drivenin the liquid supply direction, and the liquid is supplied to the liquidcontainer 50 with the opening in the upper portion. FIG. 7G shows a timewhen the liquid supply to the liquid container 50 is completed in theliquid supply step of the next ice making process. In the liquid supplystep of the ice making process after the second ice making process, theliquid is already stored in the region with a height greater than theheight H on the bottom surface of the liquid container 50 before theliquid supply is started. Thus, the amount of the liquid supplied to theliquid container 50 in the liquid supply step of the second ice makingprocess becomes less than the amount of the liquid just remaining in thefirst ice making process. The remaining liquid is cooled by therod-shaped component 24 of the metal piece 20 in the previous ice makingprocess, and changed to a lower temperature than a temperature of newlysupplied liquid. Thus, in the ice making step of the ice making processafter the second ice making process, since the temperature of the liquidto be frozen is low in advance, ice can be made efficiently in a shorttime.

As described above, the ice maker according to the present embodimentincludes: the cooling part 40 having the heat dissipation device 10 andthe metal piece 20, the heat dissipation device 10 having the flowpassage 12 for the refrigerant to flow through, the metal piece 20 beingmounted such that the rod-shaped component 24 extends downwards from thebase end portion 24A to the tip portion 24B, and the rod-shapedcomponent 24 is cooled by the heat dissipation device 10; the liquidcontainer 50 capable of storing the liquid; the liquid supply part 72which supplies the liquid to the liquid container 50; the movingmechanism 60 which rotates the liquid container 50; and the control part90 which controls the temperature of the rod-shaped component 24, theoperation of the liquid supply part 72, and the operation of the movingmechanism 60; under the control of the control part 90, the ice makingprocess is repeated a plurality of times, in which the following stepsare performed: the liquid supply step in which the liquid supply part 72supplies the liquid to the liquid container 50 which is at the icemaking position and has the opening in the upper portion; the ice makingstep which is after the liquid supply step and in which the ice makingtemperature is reached after the predetermined time: the predeterminedrange L from the tip portion 24B of the rod-shaped component 24 at theice making temperature is immersed in the liquid contained in the liquidcontainer 50; the escape step which is after the ice making step and inwhich while the remaining liquid is still stored in the liquid container50, the moving mechanism 60 rotates the liquid container 50 from the icemaking position to the escape position where the liquid container 50 isnot located below the rod-shaped component 24; the ice release stepwhich is after the escape step and in which the rod-shaped component 24is changed to the ice release temperature and the ice generated aroundthe rod-shaped component 24 falls from the rod-shaped component 24; andthe recovery step which is after the ice release step and in which themoving mechanism 60 rotates the liquid container 50 from the escapeposition to the ice making position when the remaining liquid is stillstored in the liquid container 50. At this point, the liquid container50 has the structure capable of containing the predetermined amount ofliquid in the escape position.

Thus, since the liquid remaining in the liquid container 50 in the icemaking step of the previous ice making process can be used in the icemaking step of the next ice making process, the ice can be made usingthe low-temperature liquid cooled in the previous ice making process.Thus, the ice maker which has the high cooling efficiency and can makethe ice in a short time can be provided. The plurality of ice makingprocesses as described above are repeated, and a series of ice makingprocesses is completed after a predetermined amount of ice G is storedin the ice storage container 56.

(Processing when Plural Ice Making Processes are Completed)

FIGS. 8A to 8C are side sectional views of the ice maker 2 according tothe present invention when the ice making process is completed, FIG. 8Ashows a remaining liquid freezing step, FIG. 8B shows a view when theliquid container 50 is twisted in a remaining liquid ice release step,and FIG. 8C shows a view when the frozen remaining liquid falls from theliquid container 50 in the remaining liquid ice release step.

<Remaining Liquid Freezing Step (Refer to FIG. 8A)>

In the remaining liquid freezing step, after the series of ice makingprocesses is completed, the remaining liquid remaining in the liquidcontainer 50 is frozen. FIG. 8A shows a view obtained when the remainingliquid is frozen in a state where the liquid container 50 is at the icemaking position.

The remaining liquid can be frozen by a means that a plurality of finsare provided on an outer surface of the heat dissipation device 10 ofthe cooling part 40, and cold gas passing between the fins of thecooling part 40 is blown to the remaining liquid by the fins. Theremaining liquid can be frozen by blowing the cold gas cooled to asub-zero temperature between the fins onto the remaining liquid.Furthermore, the cold gas cooled by a heat dissipation device or asemiconductor chilling plate, or the like, different from the coolingpart 40 is blown to the remaining liquid.

Further, the bottom surface 50A of the liquid container 50 can be formedof metal having a good thermal conductivity, and connected to thecooling part 40 using a member having a high thermal conductivity, orthe liquid container 50 can be moved to be in contact with the coolingpart 40. Furthermore, as described below, in a case where the ice maker2 is provided in a refrigerator, the remaining liquid can be easilyfrozen by providing the liquid container 50 in a freezing chamber of therefrigerator.

<Remaining Liquid Ice Release Step (Refer to FIGS. 8B and 8C)>

After the remaining liquid freezing step, the control part 90 drives thedriving motor of the moving mechanism 60 in a direction the same as thedirection in the escape step to rotate the liquid container 50. At thispoint, the liquid container is rotated beyond the escape position at 70to 120 degrees to a position at about 180 degrees. At this point, theprotrusion 54 provided at the end region of the liquid container 50abuts against a frame of the ice maker 2. In a state where a part of theelastic liquid container 50 is restrained by this abutment, the drivingmotor is continuously driven to further rotate the liquid container 50,and thus, the liquid container 50 is twisted. The liquid container 50 isdeformed by the twisting operation, as shown in FIG. 8C, and the frozenremaining liquid is released from the liquid container 50 and falls. Thedropped frozen remaining liquid is stored in the ice storage container56 provided below.

In the example shown in FIG. 8A, the remaining liquid present in thevicinity of the bottom wall 50A is frozen in the state where the liquidcontainer 50 is at the ice making position. Thus, when the liquidcontainer 50 is twisted, since the bottom wall 50A is deformedrelatively largely, the frozen remaining liquid can be easily releasedfrom the liquid container 50. Further, since the frozen remaining liquidreleased from the liquid container 50 falls substantially directlydownwards, there is substantially no risk of interference with othermembers. However, the present invention is not limited thereto; forexample, the remaining liquid can be frozen in a state where the liquidcontainer 50 is at the escape position. The means for releasing thefrozen remaining liquid from the liquid container 50 is not limited tothe above description, and any known ice-making-tray ice releasing meanscan be employed.

As described above, after the plurality of ice making processes arerepeated, under the control of the control part 90, the following stepsare performed: the remaining liquid freezing step in which the liquidremaining in the liquid container 50 at the ice making position or theescape position is placed in a freezing environment and frozen; and theremaining liquid ice release step in which the frozen remaining liquidfalls from the liquid container 50. Thus, after the series of ice makingprocesses is completed, the remaining liquid does not flow out of theliquid container, but can be frozen and released from the liquidcontainer 50, thus realizing an efficient ice making cycle.

(Refrigerator according to Present Invention)

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator 100 according to thepresent invention. In FIG. 9 , the flow of the refrigerant is shown by adotted arrow. The refrigerator 100 according to the present inventionhaving the above-mentioned ice maker 2 will be described with referenceto FIG. 9 .

The refrigerator 100 includes a freezing chamber 102A and arefrigerating chamber 102B. Inlet side flow passages 104A, 104Bpartitioned by a partition 106 are provided on back sides of thefreezing chamber 102A and the refrigerating chamber 102B. An evaporator140 is provided in the inlet side flow passage 104A on the freezingchamber 102A side, and a fan 170 is provided above the evaporator. Acompressor 110 communicated with the evaporator 140 is provided in amachine chamber outside the back side of the freezing chamber 102A. Arefrigerant (gas) compressed by the compressor 110 is liquefied in acondenser 120, is decompressed to lower a boiling point while passingthrough a capillary tube, and reaches a three-way valve 160 via a dryer130. Although the dryer 130 is shown in FIG. 9 as being within themachine chamber, the dryer is actually provided near the three-way valve160.

By the three-way valve 160, the refrigerant is switched between directflow into a flow passage of the evaporator 140 of the refrigerator 100and flow into the flow passage of the evaporator 140 after flow in theheat dissipation device 10 of the ice maker 2. when the ice maker 2 doesnot make ice, the refrigerant directly flows into the evaporator 140.Then, the refrigerant takes away heat of gas in the refrigerator and isvaporized in the evaporator 140, the vaporized refrigerant is compressedagain in the compressor 110, and such a cycle is repeated. Thecompressor 110, the condenser 120, the dryer 130, the evaporator 140, orthe like, are communicated to form a cooling system 150 of therefrigerator.

When ice is made by the ice maker 2, the refrigerant flows into the flowpassage 12 of the heat dissipation device 10 through the connecting pipe14A by switching the three-way valve 160. When passing through the flowpassage 12, a part of the liquid or mist refrigerant absorbs heat fromthe surroundings and evaporates, and the vaporized refrigerant reachesthe inlet side of the evaporator 140 through the connecting pipe 14B.Since the amount of the refrigerant vaporized in the heat dissipationdevice 10 is less than the capacity of the refrigerant circulating inthe cooling system 150, the refrigerant overall maintains a liquid ormist state when entering the evaporator 140. Therefore, the refrigeranttakes away the heat of the gas in the refrigerator and is vaporized inthe evaporator 140, the vaporized refrigerant is compressed again in thecompressor 110, and such a cycle is repeated.

The three-way valve 160 for the switching purpose can be omitted, andthe flow of refrigerant into the evaporator 140 and the flow ofrefrigerant into the evaporator 140 after passing through the heatdissipation device 10 are always generated.

A damper 180 is provided between the inlet side flow passage 104A on thefreezing chamber 102A side and the inlet side flow passage 104B on therefrigerating chamber 102B side. FIG. 9 shows a state in which thedamper 180 is closed. In the state where the damper 180 is closed, whenthe compressor 110 and the fan 170 are actuated, gas in the freezingchamber 102A flows, and the cold gas passing through the evaporator 140flows into the freezing chamber 102A from a blow-out port 106A providedin the partition 106. As shown by the dot-and-dash arrow in FIG. 9 , theinflow gas circulates in the freezing chamber 102A and returns to alower side of the evaporator 140 in the inlet side flow passage 104Aagain. An interior of the freezing chamber 102A can be cooled bycirculation of the gas cooled by the evaporator 140. In a state wherethe damper 180 is opened, the cold gas also circulates on therefrigerating chamber 102B side.

As described above, the refrigerator 100 according to the presentembodiment includes the ice maker 2 according to the above embodiment,and a branch can be formed from the cooling system 150 for cooling aninterior of the refrigerator, so as to supply the low temperaturerefrigerant in the liquid or mist state to the heat dissipation device10 of the ice maker 2. Thus, the rod-shaped component 24 of the metalpiece 20 of the cooling part 40 can be changed to the ice makingtemperature. Furthermore, in the case where the ice maker 2 includes thesemiconductor chilling plate 30, since the cooling operation isperformed by the semiconductor chilling plate 30 in addition to the heatdissipation device 10 of the cooling system 150 of the refrigerator 100,the ice making temperature of the rod-shaped component 24 can be furtherreduced as compared with a case where only the refrigerant is used.

In the ice release step, the high-temperature refrigerant from thecompressor 110 can be supplied to the heat dissipation device 10 of theice maker 2 by an unillustrated switching valve. Thus, the rod-shapedcomponent 24 of the metal piece 20 of the cooling part 40 can be changedto the ice making temperature higher than the freezing point.Furthermore, in the case where the ice maker 2 includes thesemiconductor chilling plate 30, in a state where the low-temperaturerefrigerant from the cooling system 150 is still supplied to the heatdissipation device 10, the temperature of the rod-shaped component 24 ofthe metal piece 20 can be raised by reversing the direction of thecurrent applied to the semiconductor chilling plate 30 in the ice makingprocess, thereby quickly releasing ice. Furthermore, in the ice releasestep, the three-way valve 160 can be switched, such that the refrigerantis not supplied to the heat dissipation device 10.

In the refrigerator 100 in which the above-mentioned ice maker 2 isincluded and the branch is formed from the cooling system 150 forcooling the interior of the refrigerator, so as to supply therefrigerant to the heat dissipation device 10 of the ice maker 2 asdescribed above, the cooling efficiency is high and ice can be made in ashort time. In particular, since the liquid container 50 of the icemaker 2 is provided in the freezing chamber 102A, the remaining liquidof the liquid container 50 can be easily frozen in the remaining liquidfreezing step described above.

So far, a person skilled in the art shall know that although a pluralityof exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove in detail, various variations and improvements can be directlydetermined or deducted from the content disclosed by the presentinvention without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Therefore, all those variations and improvements shall bedeemed to be covered by the scope of the present invention.

1. An ice maker, comprising: a cooling part having: a heat dissipationdevice having a flow passage for a refrigerant to flow through; and ametal piece mounted such that a rod-shaped component extends downwardsfrom a base end portion to a tip portion, and the rod-shaped componentis cooled by the heat dissipation device; a liquid container capable ofstoring liquid; a liquid supply part which supplies liquid to the liquidcontainer; a moving mechanism which rotates the liquid container; and acontrol part which controls a temperature of the rod-shaped component,an operation of the liquid supply part, and an operation of the movingmechanism; wherein an ice making process is repeated a plurality oftimes under control of the control part, in which the following stepsare performed: a liquid supply step in which the liquid supply partsupplies liquid to the liquid container which has an opening in an upperportion when being at an ice making position; an ice making step whichis after the liquid supply step and in which an ice making temperatureis reached after a predetermined time, and the following state isachieved: a predetermined range from the tip portion of the rod-shapedcomponent at the ice making temperature is immersed in liquid containedin the liquid container; an escape step which is after the ice makingstep and in which while remaining liquid is still stored in the liquidcontainer, the moving mechanism rotates the liquid container from theice making position to an escape position where the liquid container isnot located below the rod-shaped component; an ice release step which isafter the escape step and in which the rod-shaped component is changedto an ice release temperature, such that ice generated around therod-shaped component falls from the rod-shaped component; and a recoverystep which is after the ice release step and in which the movingmechanism rotates the liquid container from the escape position to theice making position when the remaining liquid is still stored in theliquid container; the liquid container has a structure capable ofcontaining a predetermined amount of liquid in the escape position. 2.The ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the ice maker furthercomprises a liquid removing part for removing the liquid remaining inthe liquid container; under the control of the control part, after theice making step, the escape step is performed after the liquid removingstep is performed; in the liquid removing step, the liquid removing partremoves a part of the liquid remaining in the liquid container, suchthat an amount of the liquid remaining in the liquid container isreduced to be less than the predetermined amount.
 3. The ice makeraccording to claim 1, wherein after the plurality of ice makingprocesses are repeated, the following steps are performed under thecontrol of the control part: a remaining liquid freezing step in whichthe remaining liquid remaining in the liquid container at the ice makingposition or the escape position is placed in a freezing environment andfrozen; and a remaining liquid ice release step which is after theremaining liquid freezing step and in which the moving mechanism furtherrotates the liquid container in a state where a part of the liquidcontainer having elasticity is restrained, so as to twist the liquidcontainer to drop the frozen remaining liquid from the liquid container.4. The ice maker according to claim 3, wherein the ice maker furthercomprises a semiconductor chilling plate provided between the heatdissipation device and the metal piece, one side surface of thesemiconductor chilling plate is in contact with a surface of the heatdissipation device, and the other side surface thereof is in contactwith a surface of the metal piece opposite to the surface on which therod-shaped component is mounted; in the ice making step, thesemiconductor chilling plate is supplied with power, such that the sideof the semiconductor chilling plate in contact with the heat dissipationdevice becomes a heat release side, and the side in contact with themetal piece becomes a heat absorption side, so as to further cool therod-shaped component at the ice making temperature; and in the icerelease step, the semiconductor chilling plate is supplied with power,such that the side of the semiconductor chilling plate in contact withthe heat dissipation device becomes the heat absorption side, and theside in contact with the metal piece becomes the heat release side, soas to change the rod-shaped component to the ice release temperature. 5.The ice maker according to claim 4, wherein in the ice release step,with an end region of the liquid container as a rotation center, theliquid container is rotated by 70 to 120 degrees from the ice makingposition to the escape position; the liquid container is provided with arib, the rib is connected with a side wall forming the liquid containerand partially covers the opening in the upper portion, and in the escapeposition, the predetermined amount of liquid is caught in the liquidcontainer by the rib.
 6. A refrigerator, comprising the ice makeraccording to claim 1, a refrigerant branched from a cooling system forcooling an interior of the refrigerator being supplied to the heatdissipation device of the ice maker.
 7. The ice maker according to claim5, wherein the metal piece comprises a flat-plate-shaped base and aplurality of rod-shaped components mounted to a lower side surface ofthe base, the rod-shaped components of the metal piece are inserted intoa liquid storage region through an opening formed in an upper portion ofthe liquid container.
 8. The ice maker according to claim 7, wherein therod-shaped components are arranged substantially linearly.
 9. The icemaker according to claim 7, wherein a male thread is provided on thebase end portion of each rod-shaped component, so as to be connectedwith a female thread formed in a hole portion provided in the base. 10.The ice maker according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined rangebetween the tip portion of each rod-shaped component and a liquid levelis 8 mm to 40 mm.